A tongue is conventionally located on an instep portion of footwear and it may both cover and protect portions of the foot. The tongue may also prevent shoe laces from rubbing on the foot. Typically, a footwear tongue is made of a flexible fabric material and it may be made with the same material as the footwear upper. In some instances, the tongue may include a foam material to provide cushioning properties. Often, shoe laces extend over the tongue, keeping the tongue in a substantially stationary position when the footwear is worn on a foot. When the laces are untied, the wearer may flex the tongue into a different position to assist in the insertion of the foot into or the removal of the foot from the footwear.